My Vision became Reality: OpenSpace-Online is born!

Wed May 15 07:31:25 PDT 2002

Dear colleagues and dear friends,

this a very, very special day for me and my team: Exactly at 15:15 (German time), 2002-05-15 we started the launch of our new open space internet conference system. For all who have not much time to read this long email ... you are warmly invited to go on our new website www.OpenSpace-Online.com.

In the following I would like to share with you one of my greatest experiences I had in my life. 

In the middle of a wonderful period of co-facilitating and facilitating OST conferences and of develop and offer a OST Training together with Michael M Pannwitz I began to dream about the question "Could it give additional ways to spread OST?" "What" and "how"?" Over month this questions came again and again into my mind. I did not know really why, because I saw how wonderful OST spread. In the same way I was additional so much impressed about the new possibilities which brought us the world wide web. At this time I thought that this two threads in my mind were total independent from each other. 

But on a weekend in July 1999, relaxing in the sun, it happens in my yard. There I had an indescribably intense flash of inspiration. In my mind's eye, I saw, quite clearly and precisely, the process and structure of an Internet-based real-time conference. This conference software had a virtual facilitator, helped decentralized work groups and interest groups to achieve a large degree of independence. Moreover, it brought into harmony with one another results-orientation, participation, and mutually respectful communication. At the same time, this software transferred as good as possible the principles of OST to the Internet. I saw how this software could ideally support processes of learning and of change in society, in the economy, in education, and in politics with its practically universal span of application and due to its simple and quick handling. 

I jumped out of my canvas chair, I was total confused, I went into the house, toke paper and a pen and began to write down all what I saw. I felt myself like in trance ... I wrote and wrote and wrote. A full concept of the software structure, the procedure, the benefits, the applications, the logo draft, the slogan and first steps of realization. When I "woke up" more than one hour was gone, 10 pages were full and I was so tired and so confused. That MOMENT was the begin of a big adventure.

The vision was so clear and so powerful! It was like a precious gift and was also like a very precise and clear commission. What followed was a journey of discovery into an area (IT) that was at that time foreign to me. But I had the deep belief that this vision could become reality. The whole time I was guided by a friendly star, which always showed me the way or stopped me if I was in danger of getting off course. It is a good thing that I did not know at the beginning how deep I would have to penetrate into this area and that an almost unending desert of countless details, privations, risks, and unforeseen challenges awaited me. But there was never any question of stopping, turning around, or giving up. It must also be said that I never would have been able to complete this big project alone. I was fortunate in always finding the right people at the right time. A big Thank You to all my angels and supporters on earth and after this time I am sure also in heaven!

And a very big THANK YOU to you, Harrison. Without your open philosophy, without your trust in open change I would never had this powerful inspiration and the courage to go into such chancy and expensive adventure without any doubt. THANK YOU for your "wonderful open space garden". You disseminated a brilliant seed and since over 17 years it grows and grows in this beautiful garden. The internet and the IT sector makes it possible that over the years more and more communication and new plants and bloomers appear. Each plant has its own personality, its own tasks and benefits. But all plants have the same roots and all are full of heart energy, of passion and all are growing for similar higher goals.

To realize my vision I went into a cooperation with a very experienced software company. During the time more and more staff were needed and on average between 5 and 7 people were working day by day in this project. One of a few "musts" from our business partner was it to keep our IT-project top secret. But now the development of the first software version and the long period of tests (12 month), in which 30 to 50 people helped us in optimizing the system, are over. Now we are able to speak about our new innovation. I am so happy about this milestone and it is so exciting!

If you are interested in ... here some brief information regarding our new "bloomer":
Our main product is now an Internet conference software, which takes place in successive phases, in which between 5 and 75 persons can simultaneously work on a major subject that is current and important to them. The complete conference system and the appropriate conference software is available in German and in English. The participants work together in a goal and solution-oriented manner for 1.5 to about 8 hours. No external online moderator is needed. A virtual facilitator guides all participants simply through the process of the conference. That was in the beginning one of my biggest aims: no online moderator and in real-time! I wanted to create a system with a good structure, phase by phase, step by step with a good orientation for each single participant at each place in the "conference center" and at every second. I was sure, that the passion for a higher joint subject will find the way through this virtual leaded process. The wonderful result is: it works every time! And at the end of every online conference each participant receives extensive documentation about the conference in the convenient HTML-format at the press of a button. The documentation provides an ideal basis for further work, as it contains all contents, results, and arrangements made during the conference and can be immediately used in either digital or printed form. 

With the complete conference system licensees can plan and manage individual conferences quickly and independently and carry these through via Internet, Extranet, or Intranet. With our conference system, we are especially oriented towards companies, organizations, universities and schools which are engaged in a process of constant learning and which understand, therefore, the value of participation for the proactive initiation and establishment of sustainable processes of change and want to make synergies possible between the offline and the online world.

Another field of application which is equally important to us is that of cities and communities engaged in a constant learning process. We are happy therefore that an extensive cooperation has begun between our new company and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities. The goals of this cooperation are to work together to support cities and communities in opening ever more interactive spaces for lively online citizen participation to make city and regional development possible in a new form and to set new international benchmarks for the areas E-Government, E-Participation and E-Democracy. 

Like OST, our software system is also not a "sell-product". It is just a tool, easy and fast to handle and to use. We have no distribution system and we will have no agencies, no sales commission is planed, no sales people are needed and no consultants are required. Our deep believe is that (with the principles of OST) our software system will find the right customers, license clients and the right participants self-organized and the right people which want to support such applications ... when the time is right. Our main tasks in the future will be to make our innovation known, to "hold the space" for all people and organizations which are interested in our services around self-organized participation and self-organized e-participation. Another task is to continue the development on our software system and to develop other networking tools. That’s our mission. We invite you all warmly to have a look into our new website www.OpenSpace-Online.com. There you will find more information. 

Thank you for taking time and reading this long message!
With warm greetings from Berlin

Gabriela Ender

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OpenSpace-Online GmbH - The Power of People 
Resselsteig 30, 12209 Berlin, Germany  
eMail: contact at OpenSpace-Online.com  
website: http://www.OpenSpace-Online.com 
phone:  ++ 49 (30) 772 31 69     
List of Change Facilitators Worldwide  
website: http://www.Open-Change.com 
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